The 300 Million Yen Robbery

December 10, 1968. Tokyo. Man dressed like a cop on a police motorcycle stops a bank car carrying cash and warns that there is a bomb in the car. After lighting a flare under the vehicle, the occupants flee the area, and the “cop” hops in and drives off. The crime is still unsolved.

Wiki - On the morning of December 10, 1968, four Kokubunji branch employees of the Nihon Shintaku Ginko (bank) transported 294,307,500 yen(about US$817,520 at 1968 exchange rates) in the trunk of a company car. The metal boxes contained bonuses for the employees of Toshiba’sFuchufactory. They were stopped in the street next to Tokyo Fuchū Prison by a young uniformed officer on a police motorcycle. The police officer informed them that their branch manager’s house had been blown up, and they had received a warning that dynamite had been planted in the transport car. The four employees exited the vehicle while the officer crawled under the car to locate the bomb. Moments later, the employees noticed smoke and flames under the car as the officer rolled out, shouting that it was about to explode. When the employees retreated to the prison walls, the police officer got into the car and drove away.

- There were 120 pieces of evidence left at the scene of the crime, including the “police” motorcycle, which had been painted white. However, the evidence was primarily common everyday items, scattered on purpose to confuse the police investigation.